Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Snakes

Snakes

“The snake had charmed me.” (pg. 8)

Snakes have long been a cornerstone of literary metaphors. Tainted with a decidedly negative connotation to their names, snakes have grown to represent evil and wickedness. This reputation stems from the Bible, where Satan took the form of a snake and convinced Eve to eat an apple from the Tree of Knowledge resulting in Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Throughout literary and cinematic history, snakes have been a symbol of coercion and even sleazy charm. The fact that Conrad uses the metaphor of a snake to say that an idea had “charmed” Marlow only continues on in the same vein of casting snakes as persuasive devils.